The guarantee was increased...by an even million. The $2.5 million guarantee sets itself apart from any other weekly tournament on its own merits, but the attention it drew this week was something for the history books. The guarantee was not just surpassed by a few thousand dollars. It was pummeled and thrown by the wayside when an astounding 18,283 players came out for the $200 + $15 event. And the subsequent prize pool? $3,656,600. Oh, and not only were the top five finishers set up to claim six-figure payouts, but the top prize was set at $365,670.77. Wow.

But even more "wow" was the fact that the numbers set a record. The most players ever to grace the tables of a single Sunday Million tournament with a $215 entry requirement, according to statistics guru Bob at PokerStars, was on December 28, 2008 during World Record Week when 16,260 players signed up to create a $3,252,000 prize pool. That event was won by lp_SakiSaki who took home $331,378.80 for that victory and who incidentally finished 16,495th in tonight's event. The November 15 Sunday Million thereby set a record with its numbers.

Largest ever $215 Sunday Million prize pool: $3,656,600
Largest ever $215 Sunday Million field: 18,283 players

Pop the PokerStars champagne, and pour me a glass!

While the impressive record was settling in, the tables were still running, and as the action neared the 3:00am ET mark (nearly 10.5 hours into play), the players at the three remaining tables were slowing down the action as the money jumps increased and the final table payout amounts were in sight. But after a little more than 30 minutes, the bubble was in play after the 11th place elimination of R33_GTR. And it eventually came down to nederen_dk pushing all-in with [As] [Td] from the big blind and Guldlemmen4 calling with pocket jacks. The board came [3h] [2h] [7d] [Qs] [Kc] to allow the pair to hold and eliminate nederen_dk in tenth place with $13,712.25 as the consolation prize.

Play was then set to begin at the final table amidst Level 40 with 500,000/1,000,000 blinds and a 100,000 ante, and the player lineup was as follows:

Seat 1: ZyeD3 (22,839,804 in chips)
Seat 2: Zadman5311 (17,636,300 in chips)
Seat 3: The Omaholic (18,935,611 in chips)
Seat 4: MATPOC28 (18,997,596 in chips)
Seat 5: m8675309a (24,108,668 in chips)
Seat 6: Guldlemmen4 (43,419,898 in chips)
Seat 7: waWe (15,883,436 in chips)
Seat 8: E-Daddie (7,938,832 in chips)
Seat 9: call110 (13,069,855 in chips)

Team PokerStars Pro Ivan Demidov welcomed the players to the final table and congratulated them on the final table accomplishment, and it didn't take long for players to find the courage to move all-in. But the first all-in and call didn't work out for a double-up like the short stack planned.

E-Daddie pushed his last 7,878,832 all-in from late position with [Ah] [Qs], but it was MATPOC28 calling from the small blind with the better [As] [Kh]. The board gave both players two pair when it came [Ks] [8c] [6s] [Qc] [Ad], but E-Daddie was on the losing end of that battle and became the first to leave the final table, taking $21,939.60 for the ninth place finish.

The all-in moves kept coming, as waWe doubled through chip leader Guldlemmen4 and call110 did the same through MATPOC28. But it was this hit for MATPOC28, courtesy of waWe, that put his stack in severe jeopardy:

Six hands later, MATPOC28 pushed his last 2,419,701 all-in from the big blind with [Js] [Ts], but original raiser Guldlemmen4 called with [As] [Qc]. The board produced [4c] [3h] [Ad] [3d] [Kh], and MATPOC28 was eliminated in eighth place with $32,090.40.

Some of the seven remaining players sought to launch into a chip-chop payout discussion, but a single "no" ended that attempt.

Players returned from a scheduled break to some small-ball action, though The Omaholic sought a place to move his last 6,075,611 chips and found it with [Ac] [Jh]. The caller was m8675309a holding pocket tens, and the flop converted that hand into a set when it came [7s] [Jc] [Th]. The [2c] turn and [5d] river cards changed nothing, leaving The Omaholic out of the tournament in seventh place with $54,840.00.

By that time, Guldlemmen4 was running away with the chip lead, as his stack boasted of more than 52 million. The closest competitor was m8576309a with little more than 37 million, and the rest of the players were working with at least 2-to-1 chip deficits. But one hand changed everything when Zadman5311 doubled through said chip leader:

Another attempt at deal talks was made during six-handed play after the stacks shifted a bit, and all agreed to see the chip-chop numbers. Upon their relay by Demidov, there was one protester who sought more than the allocated amount, and discussions ensued. Several players were more than willing to give a few thousand dollars to make the concession, and the numbers were finally solidified. With $30,000 set aside for the eventual winner, the payouts were set as follows:

Seat 1: ZyeD3 (15,519,804 in chips) = $144,353.10
Seat 2: Zadman5311 (44,532,600 in chips) = $252,662.86
Seat 5: m8675309a (30,384,279 in chips) = $200,844.74
Seat 6: Guldlemmen4 (23,099,863 in chips) = $177,650.76
Seat 7: waWe (30,553,744 in chips) = $205,477.38
Seat 9: call110 (38,739,710 in chips) = $250,037.00

And on the second hand back from the break, the action exploded.

Guldlemmen4 led out with a raise, but waWe immediately pushed all-in, and m8675309a came over the top with another all-in move. Guldlemmen4 called all-in, and m8675309a had both other players covered. The hands were shown as:

m8675309a: [Qs] [Qh]
waWe: [Kc] [Kh]
Guldlemmen4: [Ac] [As]

The board came down [2c] [Kd] [9h] [Td] [Jd] with enough drama for everyone's mama. The straight came for m8675309a, who took the entire pot, eliminating Guldlemmen4 in sixth place with $177,650.76 and waWe in fifth place with $205,477.38.

Zadman5311's comments of "omg" and "lmfao" summed up what many were likely thinking.

Two hands later, ZyeD3 doubled through call110, but ZyeD3 wasn't done. It only took another two hands to see the player push all-in again, this time with [Ac] [7c]. But ZyeD3 found that m8675309a had [As] [Qd] and called from the big blind with it. The board delivered assurance for m8675309a when it came [Qc] [5h] [Jd] [4c] [4d], and ZyeD3 was eliminated in fourth place with $144,353.10.

The action did not stop. The very next hand found Zadman5311 moving all-in as the first to act, and call110 decided to call all-in for his tournament life from the big blind with [Ah] [8d]. Zadman5311 showed [3d] [3h], which held up as the board came [9d] [Ks] [4c] [Jc] [Kc]. That left call110 out in third place with $250,037.00.

Suddenly, heads-up play was underway, starting with the following stacks:

Seat 2: Zadman5311 (62,452,506 in chips)
Seat 5: m8675309a (120,377,494 in chips)

Through a series of relatively small pots and consistent pressure, Zadman5311 chipped up and into the lead. Over the course of the first 30 hands of heads-up play, Zadman5311 more than reversed the starting stacks to take more than a 3-to-1 lead.

But m8675309a decided to make an all-or-nothing push with [Ts] [8s] against the [Jd] [9h] of Zadman5311, and it worked when the board hit [Ts] [8h] [Jh] [4h] [2d], giving the short stack two pair and allowing the stacks to sit nearly even.

However, this hand nearly ended the tournament:

One double-up was in order for uber-short-stacked m8675309a, but the second attempt didn't work out as well. m8675309a pushed all-in for 7,769,952 holding [Qd] [Tc], and Zadman5311 called quickly with [As] [4h]. The board came [7h] [2d] [8s] [2h] [Jh], and the ace kicker worked to eliminate m8675309a in second place with $200,844.74.

And the winner of the biggest $215 Sunday Million in history was Zadman5311, who claimed the prestigious tournament title along with an oh-so impressive payout of $282,662.86. Congratulations!

Sunday Million Results for 11/15/09:

1st place: Zadman5311 ($282,662.86)*
2nd place: m8675309a ($200,844.74)*
3rd place: call110 ($250,037.00)*
4th place: ZyeD3 ($144,353.10)*
5th place: waWe ($205,477.38)*
6th place: Guldlemmen4 ($177,650.76)*
7th place: The Omaholic ($54,849.00)
8th place: MATPOC28 ($32,090.40)
9th place: E-Daddie ($21,939.60)

*Numbers based on a six-way chop agreement

For more information on ways to register and qualify for upcoming Sunday Million tournaments, visit the Sunday Million page.

As for tonight there was plenty of action before the final table starting with the long run of Ryan "g0lfa" D'Angelo who was looking to add a Sunday Million title to his two WCOOP victories earlier this year (read the Event #18 recap, Event #29 recap, and the winner's interview from Brad "Otis" Willis here, here, and here). D'Angelo got low on chips however after a bad beat against twopairdad, and never recovered finishing 18th tonight ($4,180.11). Following behind Ryan was the one-time far and away chip leader idoubleL who held over 16 million chips with the average at five million and second place holding only eight million. Double ups went to Justin1836, fpmj, huebiheftig, and finally tnetter in a 10 minute span and the one time chip leader was out in 17th ($4,180.11).

strip23 who recently chopped up the Sunday Warm-up for $110K, got close again tonight but lost a key coin flip with big slick versus the pocket queens of fpmj and finished in 11th place ($8,439.09). Bubble time had plenty of all-ins but couldn't find a caller until Lucelsar shoved from the button with [7s][Ah] and blinds at 150K/300K ante 30K. Justin1836 would cover the 4.4 million chip shove and call with [Ad][8c]. But the double paired [9h] [2h] [2d] [9c] [3s] board had the two players chopping up the pot as the bubble lingered on nearing 30 minutes while the blinds bumped up to 200K/400K ante 40K.

Three hands after the bump in the blinds agriffrod would raise to 900K from the button with pocket jacks [Js][Jh] as Mr Blankey in the big blind holding [9s][Ks] decided go for the re-steal by three-betting all-in. agriffrod covered, made the call, and was rewarded with a jack on the flop that made a boat by the river [Jc] [6h] [2h] [7c] [6c] to burst the long bubble and tucked in Mr Blankey with 10th place money ($8,439.09) setting up the final table below:

Seat 1: tnetter (13124166 in chips)
Seat 2: Lucelsar (3030095 in chips)
Seat 3: huebiheftig (7499506 in chips)
Seat 4: gibler321 (6241755 in chips)
Seat 5: Osorno01 (13777775 in chips)
Seat 6: Justin1836 (5536385 in chips)
Seat 7: popotibo (8654580 in chips)
Seat 8: agriffrod (12522107 in chips)
Seat 9: fpmj (8483631 in chips)

Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein was all set up to take on hosting duties tonight, but since Hevad Khan was already in the house the elder statesman took leave as RaiNKhaN would assist the players this evening.

With blinds starting at 200K/400K ante 40K Lucelsar would start off the fast paced final table by opening all-in for nearly three million chips from the button with [Ad][3d] and gibler321 would make the call holding a slightly better [4d][Ah]. The [6c] [7d] [9c] [6d] [6h] board would not cooperate for either player as they split the pot.

Seven hands later the first massive pot of the final table took place between fpmj and huebiheftig. Watch the nearly 15 million chip pot play out below:

Massive cooler to start off the final table as huebiheftig found pocket queens [Qc][Qh] behind the opening raise of fpmj and decided to push all-in for 7.2 million. fpmj wasn't trying to steal the blinds with pocket aces [As][Ac], and the [5s] [Kh] [5d] [Ad] [9c] board further cemented the lead after turning a boat, leaving huebiheftig drawing dead by the river and earning $12,224.85 for ninth place.

The very next hand Lucelsar would again try to pick off the blinds with a button shove but this time with worse cards holding [5c][7c]. gibler321 did not call from the small blind, but Osorno01 did call from the big blind and covered easily with [9s][Js]. The two spade flop [3c] [Ks] [Ts], cut down several outs for Lucelsar. The [8h] turn and [6h] river hit neither player as the mighty jack-high took down the 7.3 million chip pot and sent Lucelsar home in eighth place ($18,140.10).

Four hands after that (did I mention action, action, action yet?) gibler321 and agriffrod found a way to make a 12 million chip pot preflop. gibler321 holding a pocket pair of fours [4c][4s] were up against the big slick [Ah][Kd] of agriffrod. The board failed to connect with the ace-king as gibler321 doubled up to over 12 million while the VIP Supernova agriffrod slipped to 7.8 million with blinds still holding at 200K/400K ante 40K.

Two hands after that all-in we got to see a couple of second of post-flop play between fpmj and popotibo. popotibo would start the betting by raising in middle position to just over a million chips as fpmj would call from the button to see the [3h] [8h] [3c] flop. popotibo checked as fpmj would immediately bet enough to put popotibo all-in. The snap call from popotibo was due to hitting top pair with [8c][9h]. Unfortunately for popotibo, the chip leading fpmj would roll over a better kicker the form of an ace [As][8s]. The rest of the board [6d][Kd] failed to bring a nine or the case trey and popotibo was eliminated in seventh place ($31,548.00).

fpmj would take even more chips off the table from gibler321 shortly after popotibo was gone, after check-raising a flop of [5h] [3h] [9h] to take down a 15 million chip pot to solidify the chip lead...

... for two hands as agriffrod would double up off the chip leader holding pocket jacks [Jd][Js] having them hold up against the [Ac][Jh] of fpmj on the [8d] [4s] [Kh] [Ts] [Ks] board for a 14 million chip pot as the blinds moved up to 250K/500K ante 50K.

Finally the players came up for air and no other eliminations happened during the blind level as the chips stacked up as shown below while the blinds moved to 300K/600K ante 60K and fpmj retaining a slight lead over agriffrod and Osorno01:

Seat 1: tnetter (9,048,616 in chips)
Seat 4: gibler321 (6,762,273 in chips)
Seat 5: Osorno01 (17,667,870 in chips)
Seat 6: Justin1836 (5,846,385 in chips)
Seat 8: agriffrod (17,545,704 in chips)
Seat 9: fpmj (21,999,152 in chips)

Uncle Jessie's favorite visting friend came out firing after the break, at one point winning seven of ten pots then gibler321 took on a min-raise from Justin1836 with a push all-in. Justin1836 would call holding [Ks][Qs] as gibler321 was a big favorite to win with [Ad][Qd]. The flop hit Justin1836's king [5c] [Jc] [Kd] as gibler321 was put on the defensive. Diamond on the turn [4d] gave gibler flush outs to go with any ace, or ten. [3s] on the river completed the suckout as Justin1836 gained the 15 million chip pot and gibler321 was down to just four million chips. But the tables would turn three hands later as gibler took the underdog into the hand and winning. After shoving all-in with [Ks][6d] gibler321 would watch Justin1836 call and roll over pocket queens. But a king on the flop would hold for gibler321 thru the [Kd] [Td] [5s] [4c] [Th] board and gain back 8.1 million chips.

As the blinds moved up to 400K/800K ante 80K, gibler321 was firmly on the short stack holding just five million chips and in keeping up the aggressive game pushed from the button with an above average [8s][Ac]. Osorno01 held pocket tens [Tc][Ts] in the small blind and quickly made the call while Justin1836 folded the big blind. The excitement was all let out after gibler's first two all-ins with a call as the board [6h] [7s] [2s] [Qh] [3h] failed to improve either player and gibler321 sent home from the full house in sixth place ($47,322.00), improving on the $25K recently earned from a fifth place finish in the Sunday 500.

Eight hands later, fpmj would lose a coin flip holding pocket sevens [7s][7d] against Justin1836's [8s][Ah] for a huge 21.2 million chip pot but would avoid elimination just seven hands later against Osorno01. This time is was fpmj's turn to take down a 21 million chip pot as the firm favorite holding [As][9c] against the [9d][Kh] of Osorno01 as fpmj's hand would hold on the [8s] [Kd] [Ad] [2c] [2d] board.

tnetter quietly picked off blinds, not gaining much ground but not losing it either. After picking up a suited [5s][7s] in the cutoff, tnetter tried for another blind steal, but Justin1836 was eagerly waiting in the small blind with pocket kings [Ks][Kd]. The broadway flop of [Qc] [Ac] [Th] had tnetter drawing even more slim and the [4h] ended the short stack's night in fifth place ($63,096.00).

Seven hands later, Justin1836 would try to further the newly found chip lead against Osorno01 in a blind versus blind battle. Check out the video below for the conclusion:

The ace high of Justin1836 [2h][Ah] would hold up over the [Jc][Qs] of Osorno01 on the [6h] [5c] [7c] [5d] [8h] board as another 24 million chips found their way into Justin1836's chip stack. Osorno01 would head home with a huge fourth place cash ($79,500.96).

agriffrod was firm on not cutting any deals despite the huge 500K/1MM ante 100K blinds during three handed play. fpmj would be the first to double up nailing a full house with pocket tens against agriffrod's [Qd][8c] after agriffrod's blind versus blind steal attempt. Five hands later it was agriffrod's turn to regain some chips. [Ac][6c] all-in from the button for agriffrod as Justin1836 called from the big blind holding [9s][Kh]. agriffrod would hit a meaningless six on the turn of the [Tc] [7s] [3d] [6s] [Qs] board and double up to 21.3 million.

After several hand of push and fold poker it only took two hands to determine this week's Sunday Million champion.

fpmj would push the shortest stack at the table from the button holding a suited connector [8h][7h] and 12.4 million chips as Justin1836 would make the call with [9h][Ac] from the small blind and covered. [2c] [6s] [Th] on the flop added a few more straight outs for fpmj, [2s] on the turn help neither player, and an unnecessary [Ad] on the river send fpmj out in third place with a six figure score ($118,305.00).

Heads-up play was the blink and it was gone variety. Or one could describe it as a $63K bad beat story as well. Watch the video below after taking some antacids as it's a bumpy ride for our final two from flop to river:

Still queasy? This author was a bit after watching the replay of this $63K hand. If you can't watch the video, Justin1836 started the hand off with a min-raise to two million, agriffrod would three-bet to 5.05 million, as Justin1836 would four-bet all-in with [Ad][6c]. agriffrod would call with [Ah][Th] and be all-in for the tournament as Justin1836 covered by 18 million.

The flop was a safe [3c] [8c] [4d] for agriffrod to earn the 60 million chips sitting in the middle. [Tc] on the turn changed Justin1836's outs from a six to any club , and as a good friend tells me, clubs always get there, and they did with the [Qc] on the river shipping the rest of the tournament chips to Justin1836 and became this week's Sunday Million champion winning $236,614.05 in the process!

A tough beat to swallow for agriffrod who got the money in good but the board didn't cooperate. The 2009 SCOOP Event #14 final tablist (read write up here) improved on the $66K earned this spring by taking $173,514.00 as tonight's runner-up.

Be sure to check in on Tuesday at PokerStars.TV to see the final table action along with commentary and hole cards to follow along with the high level play shown tonight.

$1.5 Million Guarantee Sunday Million Results (11-08-09)
1. Justin1836 (Baltimore) $236,614.05
2. agriffrod (Boss.) $173,514.00
3. fpmj (Cascais) $118,305.00
4. Osorno01 (NH-Brazil) $79,500.36
5. tnetter (Austin) $63,096.00
6. gibler321 (Jupiter) $47,322.00
7. popotibo (ARGENTAN) $31,548.00
8. Lucelsar (nancy) $18,140.10
9. huebiheftig (Hamburg) $12,224.85

While you're researching how the year moved along so quickly, we'll give you a rundown of the November 1st Sunday Million. The crowd was a solid one, as 7,962 players came to the tables to compete in the most exciting of Sunday events, and the final registration number brought the prize pool to $1,592,400. As the day pushed on, the last 1,170 players in the tournament found themselves in that deep pool, cashing out for a minimum of $318.48.

But it was when the event reached the final two tables that the railbirds lined up to see which player would take home nearly $240K to go with the prestigious Sunday Million title. After being stuck at 16 players for quite awhile, action finally sped up and Disgracer1 exited in 12th and vias 28 in 11th just moments apart. And very soon after, a hand unfolded that involved siola and Phatigue going to see a [Qd] [8h] [6c] flop. Betting led to the [2c] turn, at which point, raising and reraising led to Phatigue calling all-in for his last 999,408 with [8c] [7c]. But the middle pair and flush draw were up against the pocket aces of siola, and the [Ks] on the river allowed them to hold up. Phatigue was eliminated in tenth place with $8,519.35 and final table bubble position.

Play was then set to begin at the final table amidst Level 35 with 150,000/300,000 blinds and a 40,000 ante, and the player lineup was as follows:

Seat 1: Lounatic0815 (19,321,372 in chips)
Seat 2: RickoT (4,957,241 in chips)
Seat 3: TEACH604 (6,342,562 in chips)
Seat 4: sandman201 (3,334,102 in chips)
Seat 5: monkeyboxes (6,392,036 in chips)
Seat 6: siola (23,947,867 in chips)
Seat 7: wader (3,815,664 in chips)
Seat 8: mizarkshzark (4,221,284 in chips)
Seat 9: spitznspots (7,287,872 in chips)

siola and Lounatic0815 held a commanding lead over the rest of the table, and the burden was going to be on those seven players to make some moves. However, small-ball poker was the order of the first few rounds, as flops were a rarity and everyone seemed to be waiting for just the right moment.

That moment looked right for RickoT when he looked down at [Ad] [Jh] preflop, but TEACH604 called easily with pocket queens from the small blind. The board was uneventful on the [7s] [5h] [3c] flop and [4s] turn, and the [Js] on the river was too little too late for RickoT, who was eliminated in ninth place with $12,341.11.

sandman201 was having a rough go of the final table, though a double-up through siola gave the player new life. But players steadily chipped away at sandman201, eventually prompting him to push all-in preflop with pocket jacks. It just so happened that spitznspots was able to call with pocket kings. The board blanked with [7s] [4d] [3h] [9s] [5d], and sandman201 was off with $18,312.61, presumably to get some sleep.

The absolute short stack, mizarkshzark, took an opportunity to double through Lounatic0815 twice to stay alive and once more through siola, but the same couldn't be said for wader. Moving all-in with pocket kings looked like a good move, especially when spintznspots called and showed pocket queens. But the board was dramatic as it came [Qh] [9s] [9h] [9d] [Ad] to give both players full houses but spitznspots the better one. wader took the worst of it and left in seventh place with $31,848.01.

The tournament was then paused when the six remaining players decided to look at chip-chop numbers. But just as quickly as the proposed payouts were given, talks began to fall apart as several players felt they deserved more of the chop than others were willing to give. However, alternate amounts were thrown around (during which time many of us were still trying to grasp that November had arrived), and when all was said and done, the 30-minute break actually led to a deal. With $30,000 set aside for the eventual winner, the payout numbers were as follows:

Seat 1: Lounatic0815 (20,187,520 in chips) = $160,000.00
Seat 3: TEACH604 (10,327,303 in chips) = $96,000.00
Seat 5: monkeyboxes (3,162,036 in chips) = $60,000.00
Seat 6: siola (19,450,391 in chips) = $157,860.54
Seat 8: mizarkshzark (10,990,272 in chips) = $100,000.00
Seat 9: spitznspots (15,502,478 in chips) = $121,318.48

Four hands later, the very short-stacked monkeyboxes chose the all-in move with [Ah] [Jh], and spitznspots called from the big blind with [Kd] [Qd]. The flop of [9s] [Ks] [Qs] gave spitznspots two pair, but monkeyboxes picked up the straight draw. But the [Qh] on the turn was a full house for spitznspots, and the [6s] on the river was the last card of the hand, knocking monkeyboxes out in sixth place with $60,000.

It took only two more hands for another player to be at risk, and it happened when TEACH604 shoved all-in for 8,277,303 in response to mizarkshzark's initial raise. The call was made by mizarkshzark holding pocket tens, and TEACH604 turned over [Ad] [Kd]. The board produced [2s] [3c] [Qd] [Jc] [6h], and that was enough to send TEACH604 out of the tournament in fifth place with $96,000.

Another two hands later, Lounatic0815 found himself with just a few chips less than the leader, and with pocket eights, Lounatic0815 moved all-in. spitznspots was said leader and called with [As] [Th], and the two watched the flop come [Qc] [2h] [7h], which was harmless. But the [Ts] on the turn gave the advantage to spitznspots, and the [5h] on the river sealed the deal. Lounatic0815 was eliminated in fourth place with the previously agreed-upon amount of $160,000.

It was then that siola made a run for it, and the following double-up took siola to a solid second place on the board:

Chips changed hands quickly from there, and mizarkshzark took the lead briefly after doubling through spitznspots but lost it again to nearly even up the three remaining players. But siola with the biggest stack decided to play the preflop raising game with mizarkshzark, and when siola pushed all-in, mizarkshzark called for his tournament life with pocket tens. siola showed [Qh] [Jd], and the board immediately brought a hand for siola with a [Jh] [7h] [6d] flop. The [7d] turn and [3d] river ended the run for mizarkshzark, who left in third place with $100,000.

Heads-up then began with siola holding more than a 2-to-1 chip advantage over spitznspots:

Seat 6: siola (55705381 in chips)
Seat 9: spitznspots (23914619 in chips)

Several chopped pots kept the action going, but it was spitznspots who played fairly patient poker and slowly chipped up into the lead. The two exchanged that lead many times over the 30-minute heads-up session, but it was a key hand near the end that gave siola the advantage. It was all done with preflop raising, and 30.2 million was in the pot when siola pushed all-in and spitznspots folded. That gave siola a significant chip lead once again.

Two hands after, spitznspots moved all-in with [Ad] [3c], but siola happened to have [As] [Qc] and made the call. The board came [7c] [Ks] [5s] [Kh] [Ac], and spitznspots was forced to accept second place and $121,318.48.

That left siola as the last player standing and the latest Sunday Million winner. For the accomplishment, $187,860.54 was awarded.

Sunday Million Results for 11/01/09:

1st place: siola ($187,860.54)*
2nd place: spitznspots ($121,318.48)*
3rd place: mizarkshzark ($100,000.00)*
4th place: Lounatic0815 ($160,000.00)*
5th place: TEACH604 ($96,000.00)*
6th place: monkeyboxes ($60,000.00)*
7th place: wader ($31,848.01)
8th place: sandman201 ($18,312.61)
9th place: RickoT ($12,341.11)

*Numbers based on a six-way chop agreement

For more information on ways to register and qualify for upcoming Sunday Million tournaments, visit the Sunday Million page.

The Sunday Million found itself with a sizable increase in the number of players at the virtual tables on October 25, with a total of 8,242 coming in for their chance at the $1.5 million guarantee. But registration kicked up the prize pool to $1,648,400, and it allowed for 1,260 players to receive payouts, though it was the first place prize of $242,479.65 that had everyone's attention piqued.

When the tournament was eventually reduced to only two tables, action sped up quite noticeably, as everyone was aiming for the five- or six-figure payouts awaiting them at the final table. And with ten players remaining, it was prinsen123 who moved all-in from the small blind with [Td] [Qd] against the [Ah] [Jd] of Pokerpiggen. The board came [Ks] [5h] [Ac] [5d] [4s], and the two pair knocked prinsen123 out on the final table bubble with a consolation prize of $8,736.53 for tenth place.

And it was toward the end of Level 34 that the final table began, with blinds of 125,000/250,000 and a 25,000 ante. The action got underway with the following chip counts:

Seat 1: deoxyribo (14,538,925 in chips)
Seat 2: subby1 (8,078,530 in chips)
Seat 3: grifo173 (15,358,479 in chips)
Seat 4: moseley8 (8,669,948 in chips)
Seat 5: JBlaze20 (8,693,022 in chips)
Seat 6: tobias fuke (4,127,000 in chips)
Seat 7: AKSchwan (5,456,349 in chips)
Seat 8: nickj7777 (5,699,925 in chips)
Seat 9: Pokerpiggen (11,797,822 in chips)

Play slowed. It took nearly 30 minutes to find the first all-in/call situation, and it started with tobias fuke pushing all-in from the button, which put AKSchwan in the small blind to the test. Looking down at [Ac] [Qs], AKSchwan called all-in for his tournament life, and he was ahead of the [Kc] [5d] of tobias fuke, but only until the flop came [9c] [2s] [Ks]. The [Qc] on the turn gave AKSchwan some hope, but the [9s] on the river ended the run for AKSchwan, who received $12,775.11 for the ninth place finish.

Another 20 minutes later, it was short-stacked JBlaze20 who pushed all-in from the small blind with [Ac] [Jc], and grifo173 called with [Jh] [7h]. The flop brought the first sign for grifo173 when it came [Ks] [Kc] [7c], and though the [Qs] on the turn was harmless, the [7s] on the river gave grifo173 the full house. JBlaze20 took $18,132.41 for the eighth place finish to go with the bad beat.

Two hands later, with action moving seeming to move along a bit faster, nickj7777 was also ready to put his tournament life at risk, and he did it with [Ac] [9d]. Again, grifo173 was the caller, but this time the pocket tens had the advantage from the get-go. The board came [Th] [4s] [6s] [3h] [Qd] to give grifo173 the set, and nickj7777 was ousted in seventh place with $32,968.01.

The next on the list of short-stacks, moseley8, finally chose to make the all-in move with [Ac] [3s], but deoxyribo woke up with pocket jacks in the small blind and called. The table watched the innocent flop of [8d] [Kh] [7c], but it was the [Jh] on the turn that took the wind out of moseley8's sails. The [5c] on the river solidified the result, as moseley8 was forced out in sixth place with $49,452.01.

A few minutes later, a hand developed between grifo173 and subby1 that took them to a [9h] [2h] [Kd] flop. Both players checked to see the [Qd] on the turn, at which point subby1 pushed all-in with [9d] [8d] for the pair of nines and the flush draw, but grifo173 called with pocket kings that turned into a set on the flop. The [Jc] on the river changed nothing, and subby1 was eliminated in fifth place with $65,936.01.

Four hands after, a massive hand developed when tobias fuke went all-in, Pokerpiggen did the same, and grifo173 called both.

The pocket tens of grifo173 turned into a set on the river, though that wasn't necessary to beat the pocket nines of Pokerpiggen or the [Kc] [Js] of tobias fuke on the [3c] [4h] [6d] [7d] [Ts] board. That left Devin "tobias fuke" Porter out in fourth place with $82,420.01 and Pokerpiggen gone in third with $123,630.01.

Heads-up action then began with the following counts:

Seat 1: deoxyribo (20,623,771 in chips)
Seat 3: grifo173 (61,796,229 in chips)

And it was over rather quickly. Though the two did take a brief break to discuss a deal, the numbers given for a chip-chop arrangement were not appealing, and talks quickly broke down, which was when the game resumed.

grifo173 was not about to give up his aggressive ways, and deoxyribo seemed to have difficulty finding a place to move. When deoxyribo woke up with [Kh] [Qd], it seemed like a good time to move all-in, but grifo173 was able to call with [Ac] [Th]. And that hand only improved to trips on the [Ad] [As] [Qs] flop and to a full house with the [Tc] turn. The [6c] on the river closed the deal, leaving deoxyribo with $177,203.01 for second place.

grifo173 came to the table as the chip leader and never gave up the fight, staying in the lead until victory was obtained, and that Sunday Million win came with a sweet payday of $242,479.65.

Sunday Million Results for 10/25/09:

1st place: grifo173 ($242,479.65)
2nd place: deoxyribo ($177,203.01)
3rd place: Pokerpiggen ($123,630.01)
4th place: tobias fuke ($82,420.01)
5th place: subby1 ($65,936.01)
6th place: moseley8 ($49,452.01)
7th place: nickj7777 ($32,968.01)
8th place: JBlaze20 ($18,132.41)
9th place: AKSchwan ($12,775.11)

For more information on ways to register and qualify for upcoming Sunday Million tournaments, visit the Sunday Million page.

Thus, the number of entrants in the October 18th edition of the Sunday Million was notably higher than in past weeks. There were 7,856 players at the virtual tables, which pushed the prize pool past the $1.5 million guarantee and up to $1,571,200. It took quite a few hours for players to push through and find their way into the money, as 1,170 of them did, but it was only after more than nine hours that the elite nine found their way to the final table.

It happened quickly. Often it takes hours to get from three tables to two and eventually to the last one, but this week, possibly in an effort to keep warm, players were clicking their all-in buttons like we haven't seen in quite a few weeks. It only 9 hours and 15 minutes into the tournament that the board registered 11 players remaining, and when AAADeezNutz busted in 11th, it was Helten22 at risk as one of the short stacks remaining. Helten22 pushed all-in with [Jh] [Tc] to race with the pocket nines of n1nj4.br, and that pair turned into a set when the board came [6c] [2s] [8d] [9c] [Th]. Helten22 was ousted in tenth place with $8,405.93 to ease the pain.

Just before the tournament went on its break to introduce Level 34, players went on break and returned five minutes later to blinds of 125,000/250,000 and a 25,000 ante. The final table started with the following chip counts:

Seat 1: danistiofi (4,170,681 in chips)
Seat 2: mehmet deniz (2,964,590 in chips)
Seat 3: vuki (4,842,144 in chips)
Seat 4: n1nj4.br (20,791,810 in chips)
Seat 5: madkins318 (15,163,969 in chips)
Seat 6: bigclout1 (2,389,658 in chips)
Seat 7: TheCronic420 (3,949,733 in chips)
Seat 8: BleedBlue33 (22,120,827 in chips)
Seat 9: kiramm (2,166,588 in chips)

Action was a bit slower than expected, though danistiofi was not afraid to be the first to move. But the all-in resulted in a double through madkins318, and danistiofi's risk paid off for the time being. And for the rest of the table, it was small-ball poker for awhile with big money at stake, including more than $235K for first prize.

Jamie "TheCronic420" Rosen was seeking a Sunday Million win at the table after coming so close earlier in 2009. In the March 15, 2009 event, TheCronic420 took second place to Iceman1278 after losing the lead in the heads-up battle. Tonight's final table saw TheCronic420 in trouble with a semi-short stack at the beginning and a shorter one when mehmet deniz doubled through him. But TheCronic420 came back with a double-up of his own through madkins318 to stay alive and make a run at that elusive title.

It was bigclout1 who had been unable to gain much momentum at the table, and with just over one million chips left, the all-in move came preflop with pocket kings. But two callers - mehmet deniz and n1nj4.br - kept the action going as they checked the [Jh] [2d] [2h] flop and [3c] turn. When the river brought the [Th], n1nj4.br pushed all-in, prompting mehmet deniz to fold. n1nj4.br showed pocket jacks that flopped into a full house, and the kings of bigclout1 were no good. The ninth place finish was worth $12,176.81.

The action sped up a bit as mehmet deniz continued to look for action. But in a big hand that found kiramm doubling through mehmet deniz, the latter was relegated to a very short stack of just over 500K in chips. Two hands later, those went into the pot preflop with [Qd] [Js], and madkins318 called with [Ad] [Ks]. The board came [5c] [7h] [Ts] [4d] [4s], and mehmet deniz was ousted in eighth place with $18,068.81.

Just before the 10.5 hour break, the double-ups were more frequent, with kiramm doubling through BleedBlue33 and vuki doing the same courtesy of n1nj4.br. Then it was danistiofi with an attempt, pushing all-in for 2,667,364 chips with [As] [5s], but BleedBlue33 woke up with [Ad] [Qc] in the big blind and called. The board brought [Td] [8h] [8d] [Qd] [9d] to give BleedBlue33 the flush and eliminate danistiofi in seventh place with $31,424.01.

Returning from break found TheCronic420 ready to move. He pushed all-in with 3,343,126 chips holding [Kc] [5c], but BleedBlue33 was there with pocket eights, and kiramm was also all-in with pocket kings. The hand played out as follows:

kiramm collected the entire pot worth nearly 23 million chips, and TheCronic420 left the table in sixth place with $47,136.01. It wasn't the victory Rosen sought, but it was another admirable final table finish in the Sunday Million nonetheless.

Shortly thereafter, it was madkins318 feeling the need to move all-in and doing it with [Ac] [Td]. But vuki showed up with pocket fives with which to make the call, and the race was on until the [7s] [3c] [Kh] [7c] [5h] board gave vuki a full house. madkins318 was gone from the table with $62,848.01 for fifth place.

The last four players decided to take a look at chip-chop numbers, so the tournament was paused for Team PokerStars Pro George Danzer to facilitate the discussion. However, after extended talks, one player was unwilling to agree to the numbers given, and play resumed with original payout numbers in place.

On the first hand back, BleedBlue33 pushed as the shortest stack when he looked down at [Ac] [Kh] in the big blind. kiramm thought for awhile before calling with pocket sixes, and the call was a good one when the board came down [Td] [9h] [6c] [Ah] [Th] to give kiramm a flopped set and rivered full house. BleedBlue33 was eliminated in fourth place with $79,188.49.

The last three players wanted to see the updated chip-chop numbers, so the tournament was paused again. This time, they immediately agreed to the numbers, which were provided as follows, with an extra $30,000 left aside for the eventual winner:

Seat 3: vuki (14,073,644 in chips) = $143,427.67
Seat 4: n1nj4.br (30,866,386 in chips) = $173,959.00
Seat 9: kiramm (33,619,970 in chips) = $178,965.36

Play slowed for quite awhile, as vuki stayed quite patient as the short stack. Though vuki got it all-in twice against n1nj4.br only to split the pot both times, it was finally this play that not only saved vuki's tournament but pushed him into the chip lead:

That left kiramm in need of a double-up, which he was able to accomplish through n1nj4.br, but kiramm was still short and moved again soon after with [Kd] [Js]. vuki called with pocket queens, which held up as the board came [5h] [6s] [3s] [2d] [3d]. kiramm was eliminated in third place with the agreed-upon amount of $178,965.36.

Heads-up play then began with the following chip counts:

It took only four hands to decide the match. n1nj4.br pushed all-in with [Qs] [6h], and vuki was able to make the quick call with pocket sixes. The board produced [Ks] [4s] [8h] [9c] [2h], and n1nj4.br wasn't able to win the race, meaning a second place finish and $173,959.00 was in order.

With a valiant effort to come back from short-stacked position to chip leader, vuki became the Sunday Million champion, which was good for $173,427.67 and one of the most coveted titles in online poker.

Sunday Million Results for 10/18/09:

1st place: vuki ($173,427.67)*
2nd place: n1nj4.br ($173,959.00)*
3rd place: kiramm ($178,965.36)*
4th place: BleedBlue33 ($79,188.49)
5th place: madkins318 ($62,848.01)
6th place: TheCronic420 ($47,136.01)
7th place: danistiofi ($31,424.01)
8th place: mehmet deniz ($18,068.81)
9th place: bigclout1 ($12,176.81)

*payouts based on three-way chip-chop agreement

For more information on ways to register and qualify for upcoming Sunday Million tournaments, visit the http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/tournaments/sunday-million/">Sunday Million page.

There is no better place to do that than on PokerStars, and the Sunday Million provides the biggest prize pool in online poker. With its $1.5 million guarantee, it attracted 7,364 players who ponied up the $200 + $15 buy-in or won their seats in bargain satellites. With a bit of an overlay for the field, the prize pool was set at $1.5 million for the last 1,080 players standing.

But it was on the way to the final table that the payouts became more significant, as tends to happen in tournaments. When Joey Capp exited in 11th place, hand-for-hand action began, though it didn't take long before bret999 was put to the test when PFC_Jablohme moved all-in preflop. Holding pocket tens, bret999 called, only to see that PFC_Jablohme had pocket aces. The board came [9c] [Ks] [6d] [5d] [5h], and bret999 was eliminated in tenth place with $8,250 for the bubble spot.

The final table was then set in the middle of Level 35, with blinds at 200,000/400,000 and a 40,000 ante, as follows:

Seat 1: bedias (9,399,457 in chips)
Seat 2: BeSje (2,558,188 in chips)
Seat 3: 44-Skadoo (8,986,373 in chips)
Seat 4: zwacke (7,752,730 in chips)
Seat 5: drag0nslay3r (8,754,629 in chips)
Seat 6: DHUSTLER15 (4,896,710 in chips)
Seat 7: sumai (5,315,384 in chips)
Seat 8: PFC_Jablohme (16,502,143 in chips)
Seat 9: brummieboy (9,474,386 in chips)

Though DHUSTLER15 came in as one of the shortest stacks, one key move early in the action helped propel the player to the top of the leaderboard:

It took more than 30 minutes from the start of the final table to see an elimination, and the excitement of the hand did not disappoint. BeSje was the short stack of the group but merely raised to start the action, but 44-Skadoo reraised all-in for 8,698,185. From the big blind, drag0nslay3r came over the top all-in for 10,694,829, covering all players. BeSje called and showed pocket eights, 44-Skadoo was on the line with [Ad] [Js], and drag0nslay3r turned over [Ac] [Ks]. All eyes were on the board as it came [7d] [As] [7h] [Ts] [Jd], which gave 44-Skadoo for the rivered best two pair for a massive pot worth nearly 12 million, took a bit out of drag0nslay3r, and eliminated BeSje in ninth place with $11,625.

But it was no smooth sailing for 44-Skadoo, who lost a 9-million chip pot to PFC_Jablohme in a subsequent hand and provided drag0nslay3r with a double-up. The chip lead was taken over by PFC_Jablohme, and then by brummieboy upon winning a big pot from zwacke. No one had a solid grip on the first place spot.

Another player who couldn't catch a break was drag0nslay3r. After sumai doubled through drag0nslay3r, the latter pushed all-in for his last 3,608,104. DHUSTLER15 reraised all-in to isolate with [Ks] [Qh], which worked, and drag0nslay3r could only show [Th] [3s]. The board ran out [Ac] [6d] [9s] [8c] [2h], and drag0nslay3r left the tournament in eighth place with $18,000.

The roller coaster ride of zwacke got interesting in Level 38, when he doubled through bedias but then found sumai doubling through him. zwacke was relegated to a very short stack, which was pushed in with [Kd] [Js]. PFC_Jablohme called from the big blind for only 616,642 more with [Tc] [7c] and hit the flush on the [5c] [5h] [8c] [6c] [7h] board. That left zwacke out in seventh place with $32,250 in prize money.

PFC_Jablohme was the next player to be chipped down and at risk, and he moved preflop with [Kc] [Tc] against the [Ad] [8h] of 44-Skadoo. The board came in favor of the latter with [Ac] [Qd] [7d] [3c] [2d], and PFC_Jablohme was discharged from the tournament in sixth place with $46,500.

Then it was DHUSTLER15 who took some beats when sumai doubled through him twice. The second left DHUSTLER15 with less than 80,000 in chips, which went all-in on the next hand with the ante. sumai called and brummieboy checked to see the [4s] [6c] [6d] flop. When brummieboy bet out, sumai check-folded, and brummieboy turned over [9d] [4h]. DHUSTLER15 showed [Jh] [8c], and the [Ah] turn card and [7s] on the river gave the entire pot to brummieboy and left DHUSTLER15 with $61,500 for the fifth place finish.

On the very next hand, brummieboy decided to push the action and moved all-in for more than 28 million. bedias was the caller for his tournament life holding [Qh] [Jd], and brummieboy showed [Kh] [4d]. The board came [5h] [Qd] [Ks] [7c] [7h], and bedias' two pair were no good. The fourth place finish and $79,500 went to bedias.

It was clear during three-handed play that brummieboy was running over his opponents, extending his chip lead to an extent (over 50 million) that would make it tough for anyone to catch up to. But that didn't stop them from trying. sumai doubled through 44-Skadoo, who then doubled through brummieboy.

But it wasn't enough to save 44-Skadoo. The ultra-short-stacked player moved all-in with [Kd] [5s] only to see sumai call with [As] [6s]. When the board produced [4s] [7s] [Jd] [Qc] [3s], the flush made sumai's hand even better than it started and eliminated 44-Skadoo in third place with $120,000.

Heads-up action then began in Level 41 with the following chip counts:

Seat 7: sumai (26,607,488 in chips)
Seat 9: brummieboy (47,032,512 in chips)

The match was clearly going to be a tough one, as sumai demonstrated a fair amount of patience and tenacity, and after about 20 minutes, the stacks were nearly the same as when it started. However, the following hand seemed to change everything:

With the roles reversed and sumai in the lead, brummieboy had work to do. And it came down to one hand that decided it minutes later.

The all-in move from brummieboy came with [Kd] [6s], and sumai was able to call with pocket fives. The board came [3s] [9c] [Jd] [4s] [4h], and the race was over. Second place and the corresponding prize of $165,555 went to brummieboy for a solid performance.

The whopping $225,000 first place prize and Sunday Million title was awarded to sumai for the comeback and ultimate victory.

Sunday Million Results for 10/11/09:

1st place: sumai ($225,000.00)
2nd place: brummieboy ($165,555.00)
3rd place: 44-Skadoo ($120,000.00)
4th place: bedias ($79,500.00)
5th place: DHUSTLER15 ($61,500.00)
6th place: PFC_Jablohme ($46,500.00)
7th place: zwacke ($32,250.00)
8th place: drag0nslay3r ($18,000.00)
9th place: BeSje ($11,625.00)

For more information on ways to register and qualify for upcoming Sunday Million tournaments, visit the Sunday Million page.

The October 4 edition brought a total of 6,940 players to the felt, which prompted PokerStars to kick in a bit extra to provide that promised $1.5 million in the prize pool. That guaranteed the last 990 players standing a minimum payout of $345 for their $215 buy-in but held up a $228,150 first place prize for the last player standing. In fact, the last three players at the table looked to take home six-figure cashes. Not a bad way to end a Sunday!

As the players neared that coveted final table, it was short-stacked KiloZulu who finally pushed all-in preflop with [Kh] [5h] from the big blind. Round42 called with pocket nines, and KiloZulu needed some help. The board came [3h] [3s] [4h] [Qs] [2d], and the flush and king were missing from it, leaving KiloZulu with $8,400 for tenth place on the final table bubble.

In the midst of Level 34, with blinds at 125,000/250,000 and a 30,000 ante, the starting chip counts at the final table were as follows:

Seat 1: shane261966 (2,479,845 in chips)
Seat 2: zakooza (10,900,986 in chips)
Seat 3: More4Mor (6,810,525 in chips)
Seat 4: rjmgrace (4,556,948 in chips)
Seat 5: Fraram (10,634,792 in chips)
Seat 6: Round42 (6,987,396 in chips)
Seat 7: Volanthn (7,196,822 in chips)
Seat 8: YEBOBOZ (18,003,926 in chips)
Seat 9: PizzaBoyBob (1,828,760 in chips)

On the fourth hand of action, PizzaBoyBob was able to double through Round42 to stay alive in the tournament, and it didn't take long to see more players put their tournament lives on the line.

The next to do so was shane261966, who pushed with [Ah] [7s] but found himself up against the [As] [Js] of More4Mor. The board produced [Qd] [Kc] [9d] [2d] [5c], and though both players had an ace high hand, More4Mor's had the jack to supplement the kickers on the board. That left shane261966 out of the tournament in ninth place with $11,625 for the effort.

Only a few hands later, two of the short stacks got involved with the chip leader to see a [Tc] [7d] [Qh] flop. All three players - YEBOBOZ, rjmgrace, and Fraram - checked. When the [Kc] appeared on the turn, a bet from rjmgrace received a call from Fraram but a fold from YEBOBOZ. The [8c] on the river prompted an all-in move from rjmgrace with pocket queens for the set, but Fraram called with [Ac] [4c] and the flush. The eighth place finisher was rjmgrace, and $18,000 was awarded for that spot.

Small ball poker then ensued and took the players into the first five-minute break. More cautious play upon players returning to action until PizzaBoyBob was ready to attempt another double-up. He succeeded through More4Mor, which put the latter into a desperate position of his own.

However, it was fellow short-stacked player Round42 who made the next all-in move, which prompted Volanthn to reraise all-in to isolate. That worked for Volanthn and his pocket eights, and Round42 showed [Jd] [9c]. The board came [3h] [7d] [5s] [7h] [Kd], and that eliminated Round42 in seventh place with $33,000 to show for it.

Then More4Mor and PizzaBoyBob tangled again, this time leaving the latter crippled:

PizzaBoyBob came back to double once through YEBOBOZ with A-K over pocket sixes when a king came on the flop, but it was two hands later that PizzaBoyBob tried it again. With [Kh] [5h], PizzaBoyBob pushed all-in but found himself up against the [Ad] [Qd] of zakooza. The flop of [3d] [Qs] [8d] brought the pair for zakooza, and the [3h] turn and [6c] changed nothing. PizzaBoyBob was eliminated in sixth place with $48,000.

Meanwhile, YEBOBOZ had been running away with the chip lead since the start of the final table, but as Fraram slowly crept up behind, YEBOBOZ put the pressure on and took a pot from Fraram worth more than 20 million chips. YEBOBOZ then sat with more than 31 million chips. Fraram did find a spot to double back through YEBOBOZ, and though it took Fraram out of danger, it hardly dented the stack of the chip leader.

More4Mor finally made the decision to push from the small blind with [As] [6c], but Fraram called from the big blind with a dominating [Ac] [7d]. The board brought [Td] [4d] [Ts] [4c] [7c], which eliminated More4Mor in fifth place with a $63,000 payout.

Only three hands later, it was Volanthn's turn to push, and it was done with [Ac] [7c]. But YEBOBOZ reraised all-in to keep it simple, which worked, and he showed pocket aces. The virtual PokerStars dealer gave them a [5h] [5d] [5c] [3h] [Td] board, making a full house for YEBOBOZ. Volanthn was forced to accept fourth place and the $82,500 that went with it.

The last three players decided to stop the tournament to see some chip-chop numbers in the hopes of making a deal, but a very slow-moving conversation led to a breakdown of the discussion...or so it seemed. Just as the administrator was prepared to restart the tournament, some alternate numbers were accepted as follows, with an extra $30,000 set aside for the eventual champion:

Seat 2: zakooza (12,126,603 in chips) = $146,786.35
Seat 5: Fraram (21,937,644 in chips) = $160,113.65
Seat 8: YEBOBOZ (35,335,753 in chips) = $180,000.00

Only minutes into the action, the following hand saw Fraram double through YEBOBOZ and change the dynamic of the table:

It didn't take long for YEBOBOZ to find the opportunity to move all-in, and he did it with [Th] [8s] from the big blind, though Fraram was able to call with [Jc] [9d] from the small blind. The board ran out [Ks] [Jd] [5d] [5s] [8d], and former chip leader YEBOBOZ was eliminated in third place, though he received a sizable payout of $180,000 from the aforementioned deal.

Heads-up play then began with the following chip counts:

Seat 2: zakooza (15,984,390 in chips)
Seat 5: Fraram (53,415,610 in chips)

The match took only 13 hands, and none of them found zakooza gaining any necessary ground. In the end, zakooza pushed all-in with pocket sixes, and Fraram called with [Js] [9h]. The race was on until the board came [7s] [4d] [Ts] [Qs] [9s], which gave Fraram the better flush and left zakooza with a second place finish and $146,786.35.

Fraram became the latest Sunday Million champion with $190,113.65 and a well-respected online tournament title to show for it.

Sunday Million Results for 10/04/09:

1st place: Fraram ($190,113.65)*
2nd place: zakooza ($146,786.35)*
3rd place: YEBOBOZ ($180,000.00)*
4th place: Volanthn ($82,500.00)
5th place: More4Mor ($63,000.00)
6th place: PizzaBoyBob ($48,000.00)
7th place: Round42 ($33,000.00)
8th place: rjmgrace ($18,000.00)
9th place: shane261966 ($11,625.00)

*numbers resulted from a three-way chop agreement

For more information on ways to register and qualify for upcoming Sunday Million tournaments, visit the Sunday Million page.

With the $1.5 million guarantee firmly in place, a total of 7,515 players turned out for the Sunday action, despite many of the big names in the poker world taking part in live games at such events as the World Series of Poker Europe in London. The field size created a $1,503,000 prize pool, which would be distributed among the last 1,080 competitors in the tournament. The $225,450 first place prize was as enticing as ever, and the excitement was on as the final table neared.

After nearly 10 hours of play, the action level was high. papamat25 jumped into the chip lead with 13 players left by eliminating spanishplaya in a 8.8-million chip pot, but nomaddman doubled through papamat25 in a 12-million chip pot to take over the lead. RonaldKosh then eliminated papamat25 in the next hand, and the chip lead became somewhat of a free-for-all. But after the elimination of Rodney7777 in 11th place, hand-for-hand began but only needed moments to find the last player before the final table. In the following hand, jgrhajsj took out yerzhan in tenth place, which was worth $8,266.50.

And with the following chip counts, the final table was off and running:

Seat 1: nomaddman (12,343,398 in chips)
Seat 2: RonaldKosh (13,689,042 in chips)
Seat 3: jas42 (5,781,580 in chips)
Seat 4: Nativebounty (7,105,285 in chips)
Seat 5: TheRealMT (966,030 in chips)
Seat 6: jgrhajsj (15,803,628 in chips)
Seat 7: SooSavage (3,317,730 in chips)
Seat 8: mikal12345 (5,600,693 in chips)
Seat 9: doulas12 (10,542,614 in chips)

It took only two hands for the shortest stack at the table to make a move. TheRealMT got into a raising war with doulas12 preflop, and TheRealMT finally pushed all-in with [Jh] [8h]. But doulas12 made the right call at the right time with [Ad] [8d]. The flop gave TheRealMT hope with [Jd] [4h] [6d] and the pair of jacks, but it gave his opponent the flush draw. The [3c] turn card was safe, but the [Td] on the river made that flush and eliminated TheRealMT in ninth place with $11,648.25.

Play slowed a bit after the first quick elimination, but the big stacks didn't seem afraid to move when necessary. And that was just what happened when short-stacked Soo Savage decided to push all-in preflop. jgrhajsj called with [Kc] [Js], which was then in a race with SooSavage's pocket tens. The board hit jgrhajsj on the turn of the [Qs] [5s] [3h] [Kd] [6h] board, and SooSavage was sent to the rail in eighth place with $18,036.

Next to move was doulas12, who made a preflop raise only to see nomaddman reraise it. The all-in move came from doulas12 next with [Ah] [Ts], but nomaddman showed [Ac] [Qc]. The board of [9d] [6d] [7c] [2c] [3c] only improved nomaddman's hand with a flush, which won the 15-million-plus chip pot. And doulas12 was forced to accept $32,314.50 for the seventh place finish.

On the very next hand, Nativebounty moved all-in immediately from first position, and jgrhajsj reraised to isolate, which worked. Nativebounty showed [Qs] [Jd], but jgrhajsj turned over the [Ah] [Kc] for the distinct advantage. The board came [3d] [8d] [2c] [Tc] [8s] to eliminate Nativebounty in sixth place with $46,593 in prize money.

During five-handed play, nomaddman was running away with the chip lead. But what was a 2-to-1 lead over the second place competitor soon became nearly 3-to-1 with the following hand against jgrhajsj:

Though jgrhajsj was far from crippled in that hand, recovery from it seemed difficult. And when jas42 doubled through jgrhajsj in a pot worth nearly 20 million chips, that spelled the beginning of the end. After doubling once through mikal12345, jgrhajsj tried to do it again, this time moving all-in with pocket sevens. But RonaldKosh called with pocket nines, and the board delivered [8h] [Qh] [5c] [4d] [Qs] to eliminate jgrhajsj in fifth place with $61,623.

The last four players decided to look at the chip-chop numbers, so the game was paused so Team PokerStars Pro Tom McEvoy could gather the numbers. While they didn't like what they initially saw, RonaldKosh took the reigns and refigured some numbers that were more appealing to everyone. Ultimately, the financial settlement was worked out with $30,000 reserved for the winner and the rest of the payouts as follows:

Seat 1: nomaddman (26,911,579 in chips) = $159,233.00
Seat 2: RonaldKosh (13,715,231 in chips) = $133,000.00
Seat 3: jas42 (23,520,960 in chips) = $149,000.00
Seat 8: mikal12345 (11,002,230 in chips) = $120,002.11

Within minutes of returning to action, RonaldKosh put his tournament life on the line with a preflop all-in move holding [Ks] [9c]. nomaddman called with pocket aces, and the board supported the rockets by giving them [4h] [Td] [9h] [Ts] [5d]. RonaldKosh was gone with the agreed-upon amount of $133,000 for fourth place.

A few hands later, jas42 and mikal12345 raised it up to see a flop of [8d] [Ts] [Qh], at which point jas42 moved all-in. mikal12345 claled with [Ah] [8c] and bottom pair, but jas42 showed [Ad] [Kd] for ace high only. The turn of [4h] and river of [7d] ended it, and jas42 left the tournament with $149,000 for third place.

Heads-up was then set to begin as follows:

Seat 1: nomaddman (31,304,580 in chips)
Seat 8: mikal12345 (43,845,420 in chips)

The chip leader extended his lead over nomaddman, but just when it looked like it might end for the player who held the chip lead for much of the final table, the following hand changed everything:

Exactly four hands later, nomaddman put mikal12345 to the test with an all-in reraise preflop. mikal12345 called for his tournament life with [Ad] [Tc], and nomaddman showed the [As] [Js]. The board produced [4s] [Jd] [Kc] [2d] [7h], and mikal12345 took second place and $120,002.11 in prize money.

A remarkable final table performance led to victory for nomaddman in the end, and he received $189,233 for the feat.

Sunday Million Results for 09/27/09:

1st place: nomaddman ($189,233.00)*
2nd place: mikal12345 ($120,002.11)*
3rd place: jas42 ($149,000.00)*
4th place: RonaldKosh ($133,000.00)*
5th place: jgrhajsj ($61,623.00)
6th place: Nativebounty ($46,593.00)
7th place: doulas12 ($32,314.50)
8th place: SooSavage ($18,036.00)
9th place: TheRealMT ($11,648.25)

*numbers resulted from a four-way chop agreement

For more information on ways to register and qualify for upcoming Sunday Million tournaments, visit the Sunday Million page.

And then came the Sunday Million, which in itself is a weekly must-see and must-play event, but the August 30th edition brought nearly 9,000 players to the tables! The prize pool of nearly $1.8 million was the largest in quite a few months, and the players knew that more than $250K was at stake for the winner, barring any deals that would lessen that amount. It was bound to be an exciting tournament from the start.

That it was. With 8,993 players in the field and a $1,798,600.00 prize pool, the tournament got underway and raced toward the money after only a few hours. After the bubble burst and 1,350 competitors were in the money, lifang was the first to cash for $305.76, and on the tournament went toward the final table.

The last table was determined by the elimination of one unlucky player in tenth place. And there was an all-in situation at each of the two tables to follow. On one, BigBradley was given the chance to stick around when his pocket sevens allowed him to double through angiebug4. But on the other table, BodogMaven had just become the short stack after suckabig1 doubled through him. BodogMaven pushed all-in on the next hand with only [7h] [4h], and suckabig1 was there to do battle again, this time with pocket tens. It played out without drama:

That left BodogMaven out in tenth place with $9,352.73 to heal the pain, and the final nine were seated at one table to proceed as follows:

Seat 1: CesarSPA (25,965,082 in chips)
Seat 2: Whitfield74 (11,059,972 in chips)
Seat 3: siggen001 (6,636,233 in chips)
Seat 4: suckabig1 (10,878,506 in chips)
Seat 5: angiebug4 (12,135,863 in chips)
Seat 6: gboro780 (6,947,850 in chips)
Seat 7: Spoli4tor (5,149,512 in chips)
Seat 8: BigBradley (6,437,316 in chips)
Seat 9: SebiXXXX (4,719,666 in chips)

Play started out at a reasonable pace, though players knew that they would have to make some serious moves to keep up any hope of catching CesarSPA, who seemed unstoppable.

It only took a little more than a round for one of the shortest stacks to take a chance, and Spoli4tor made the attempt holding [Kc] [Qs]. CesarSPA was in the big blind with [Ad] [6h] and didn't hesitate to call. The board came [2d] [9c] [5d] [2s] [9s], and Spoli4tor was gone just that quickly, with $12,590.21 for the effort.

Before most could get their bearings, it happened again. After a raise from CesarSPA and a reraise from Whitfield74, CesarSPA pushed all-in for more than 35 million chips, and Whitfield74 called all-in holding pocket kings. CesarSPA showed his [As] [Jc], and the board just cozied right up to it with [Kh] [Td] [4h] [6h] [Qh] to give him the straight. Whitfield74 had to accept $19,784.61 for the eighth place finish.

Everyone was gunning for CesarSPA, and siggen001 was able to double through the chip leader when jacks held up against A-K, though it hardly put a dent in CesarSPA's lead.

The next to try it wasn't so lucky. SebiXXXX was by far the shortest stack and pushed preflop with [Ks] [6s] from the small blind, but CesarSPA was in the big blind with [Ac] [4d] and made the call. The board came down [9h] [4h] [Qd] [8s] [8h], and SebiXXXX was gone in seventh place with $35,972.01.

After BigBradley doubled through CesarSPA, BigBradley took another opportunity to chip up. When gboro780 made a preflop raise, BigBradley put him to the test and pushed all-in. gboro780 called all-in for his tournament life with [Ad] [Kh], and Big Bradley showed [Ah] [Qs]. But that queen hit on the [3h] [Qd] [As] flop, and the [6h] turn and [Tc] river finished it up, eliminating gboro780 in sixth place with $53,958,01.

The final five decided to pause the tournament for some deal talks, and when the chip-chop numbers were given, discussions began. Though short-stacked angiebug4 attempted to get a few more bucks from her tablemates in order to guarantee a $100K payout, they failed to agree to that. angiebug4 finally agreed to her original number, as did the others, and the payouts, with $30,000 set aside for the ultimate winner, were as follows:

Seat 1: CesarSPA (35,000,683 in chips) = $208,845.93
Seat 3: siggen001 (15,282,466 in chips) = $131,719.96
Seat 4: suckabig1 (7,308,506 in chips) = $100,530.55
Seat 5: angiebug4 (6,385,863 in chips) = $96,921.72
Seat 8: BigBradley (25,952,482 in chips) = $173,454.74

Immediately upon the return to play, angiebug4 got aggressive and pushed all-in with [Ac] [Tc] against the [Kh] [Qs] of siggen001, and she doubled up to climb back into contention.

The next to try that move was suckabig1, who pushed preflop with pocket nines, and he soon discovered he was in a race with the [Ac] [Ks] of CesarSPA. The board came down [Ah] [3c] [3d] [Qs] [5d], and suckabig1 was ousted in fifth place with his agreed-upon amount of $100,530.55.

Again, angiebug4 moved, and with this hand, she took over second place on the chip count board and moved into serious contention for the title:

On a roll was angiebug4. When siggen001 pushed all-in on the next hand, angiebug4 reraised to isolate with pocket aces, which worked. siggen001's tournament was on the line with [Kc] [Tc], and the board blanked with [5c] [Js] [4d] [8s] [9h]. That left siggen001 out in fourth place with $131,719.96.

Finally, short-stacked BigBradley decided to make his move with pocket threes, and angiebug4 called with [Kc] [5c]. The flop was an innocent [8d] [Ad] [6h], but the [5h] hit on the turn to give angiebug4 the advantage. The [9c] on the river ended the game for BigBradley, who took home a substantial $173,454.74 for his efforts.

The last two players launched into heads-up play with chip counts as follows:

Seat 1: CesarSPA (49,619,189 in chips)
Seat 5: angiebug4 (40,310,811 in chips)

Though angiebug4 came on strong in the first few hands, CesarSPA got aggressive and began seriously chipping away at his opponent. That was until angiebug4's luck kicked in again. Pushing all-in with [As] [3h] against the [Ah] [Qd] of CesarSPA, angiebug4 pulled out a flush with the [8s] [6s] [9d] [Qs] [Ts] cards that fell. Only a few million chips separated the two after that hand. Even tournament host and Friend of PokerStars Bill Chen chimed in, "Wow nice hand this is a real battle."

Said battle continued with CesarSPA winning multiple small pots, but eventually angiebug4 got more aggressive and took down several key hands to take over the chip lead. At that point, angiebug4's bluffs were working and calls were on point.

Finally, the duo got involved in a pot that started with a [2h] [Ac] [7d] flop. CesarSPA bet and angiebug4 called to see the [6c] on the turn, which prompted an all-in bet from CesarSPA for his last 20 million chips. angiebug4 called with [8h] [6h], but CesarSPA had the better hand with [Ks] [7h]. But angiebug4 ran well during the latter portion of the final table, and the [6d] came down on the river to give her the win. CesarSPA accepted second place and $208,845.93, and angiebug4 took the Sunday Million title with $126,921.72 for the victory. Congratulations to all of tonight's finishers!

Sunday Million Results for 08/30/09:

1st place: angiebug4 ($126,921.72)*
2nd place: CesarSPA ($208,845.93)*
3rd place: BigBradley ($173,454.74)*
4th place: siggen001 ($131,719.96)*
5th place: suckabig1 ($100,530.55)*
6th place: gboro780 ($53,958.01)
7th place: SebiXXXX ($35,972.01)
8th place: Whitfield74 ($19,784.61)
9th place: Spoli4tor ($12,590.21)

*numbers resulted from a five-way chip-chop agreement

For more information on ways to register and qualify for upcoming Sunday Million tournaments, visit the Sunday Million page. And the 2009 WCOOP is just around the corner! Satellites are running now for many of the tournaments, and all of the details, including the $40 million in guarantees, can be found on the WCOOP home page.

Their loss. (Except in the case of those winning those live tournaments, in which case we see the point of their choices.)

For the 7,431 players who did turn up for the August 23rd rendition of the Sunday Million on PokerStars, they were in for a bit of a treat. The guarantee of $1.5 million kicked in and gave players a $13,800 overlay. Out of the starting field, the last 1,080 competitors standing received a portion of the $1.5 million prize pool, though over half of it was reserved for the final table finishers. A whopping $225K was up for grabs to the player who outlasted the entirety of the field, so there was nothing but excitement on tap for the latest Sunday Million event.

With a smaller than usual field, one would suspect an early final table but there was no rush to play as the that point neared. It took quite some time to find those last nine players, but with the eventual elimination of CrAzYSiXeS66 in 11th place, hand-for-hand play was implemented. Only a few hands later, New Shawboy was eliminated by tysonduke23 and his pocket aces:

Tenth place gave New Shawboy $8,250.00 for the effort, but it left the last nine players set up to continue on at the final table as follows:

Seat 1: dmytro1 (2,972,552 in chips)
Seat 2: Sheeeeep (4,301,581 in chips)
Seat 3: shawry5 (9,963,830 in chips)
Seat 4: Faraday (7,192,984 in chips)
Seat 5: tysonduke23 (12,804,233 in chips)
Seat 6: Specialk66 (11,313,744 in chips)
Seat 7: rmpvieira (7,925,749 in chips)
Seat 8: DDfromDS (10,117,803 in chips)
Seat 9: jornxx (7,717,524 in chips)

Short-stacked dmytro1 was anxious to try for a double-up, and he succeeded when his A-K of diamonds made a flush to crush the pocket pair of queens held by shawry5. Sheeeeep also managed a double when his pocket jacks held up to the pocket tens of rmpvieira. And Faraday had a substantial double-up when his aces held up to the eights of DDfromDS. tysonduke23 did it through Specialk66 in a pot worth nearly 20 million chips, which put tysonduke23 in the lead. None of the players seemed shy about putting their chips at risk on this table, but it took quite awhile before any of those actions resulted in an elimination.

Finally, after Specialk66 was crippled to less than 1 million chips by the tysonduke23 double-up, the short-stack made the all-in move from the big blind with [Qc] [6s], and DDfromDS was there with [Ac] [3h] and the call. The board came [Jc] [Js] [Ks] [4s] [Kc], and the ace kicker played to eliminated Specialk66 in ninth place, which was worth $11,625.00.

Within minutes, Sheeeeep tried an all-in move holding [Ac] [8d], but Faraday woke up to pocket kings with which to make the call. The virtual dealer quickly put out a board of [Qh] [Jd] [7s] [2s] [5c], and the kings held up to send Sheeeeep out to pasture in eighth place with $18,000.00.

jornxx had a wild ride in his final level of play at the table, first doubling through DDfromDS, then losing most of those chips when rmpvieira doubled through jornxx. With just over 3.6 million left in his stack, it was time to move again, which he did preflop with [8h] [7c], but when Faraday looked down at [Ah] [Ks] in the big blind, the decision to call was not a difficult one. The board ran out [7s] [Kd] [6d] [Tc] [4c], and jornxx left in seventh place with $46,500.00 as a consolation prize.

After nearly a half hour of no more eliminations, the six remaining players returned from a break and decided to take a look at chip-chop numbers. Shockingly and without any disagreements or negotiations, all parties accepted the deal as proposed, which was completed as follows with the exception of $30,000 more set aside for the eventual winner:

Seat 1: dmytro1 (8,846,916 in chips) = $92,818.62
Seat 3: shawry5 (19,096,881 in chips) = $146,483.00
Seat 4: Faraday (13,924,296 in chips) = $119,401.59
Seat 5: tysonduke23 (7,737,343 in chips) = $87,009.38
Seat 7: rmpvieira (14,601,533 in chips) = $122,947.31
Seat 8: DDfromDS (10,103,031 in chips) = $99,395.10

And then big-pot poker came into play. After dmytro1 doubled through DDfromDS in a 15-million-plus chip pot, DDfromDS was left with just over 4.5 million and the urge to move it. The all-in move actually came from tysonduke23 preflop, but DDfromDS called all-in for his tournament life with [Kh] [3h]. Up against the pocket fives of tysonduke23, the two watched the board immediately drop a five on the flop. The entire board ran out [5d] [Ks] [Ad] [3d] [Tc] to end the run for DDfromDS, and he collected the $99,395.10 agreed upon in the deal.

The only word for the flurry of action that followed was "crazy." After tysonduke23 doubled through dmytro1, the latter was very short-stacked and pushed all-in with [Ah] [3d]. rmpvieira called with [8c] [6h] and found a miracle board of [Qc] [3c] [2c] [7c] [Kd]. With four flush cards right out of the gate, rmpvieira won with that flush and send dmytro1 out in fifth place with $92,818.62.

Faraday seemed to be quickly running away with the tournament after having doubled through shawry5 a few hands earlier. Faraday then got involved with rmpvieira preflop when the latter moved all-in with [Kc] [9h]. Faraday was the caller from the big blind with [Ac] [Kd], and the board came [5c] [As] [Qd] [3c] [Ks]. The two pair knocked rmpvieira to the rail in fourth place with $122,947.31.

One right after the other, it seemed, was how it continued. And it was Faraday at the helm again, this time calling shawry5's all-in. Faraday had [Ah] [Kh] to the pocket fives of shawry5, and the cards on the board came [Ks] [Td] [2h] [Jc] [Js]. shawry5 had the lower two pair and was eliminated in third place with $146,483.00.

Heads-up play began with the following counts:

Seat 4: Faraday (43,872,974 in chips)
Seat 5: tysonduke23 (30,437,026 in chips)

And the tables turned, so to speak, in the blink of an eye. The very first hand of heads-up action went down as follows:

New chipleader tysonduke23 saw Faraday double through him in a subsequent pot but kept the lead going into the fourth hand of heads-up. Faraday made the initial raise, and tysonduke23 reraised all-in. Faraday called all-in for his tournament life with [Kh] [Jd], but tysonduke23 showed the better [As] [9c] hand. The board brought aces, seemingly just to make a point that the all-in fest must end, as it produced [Ad] [3h] [6h] [Qc] [Ac]. With that, Faraday settled for second place and $119,401.59.

The winner of the 8/23 Sunday Million was tysonduke23, who collected a total of $117,009.38 for the accomplishment. Congratulations to all of tonight's finishers!

Sunday Million Results for 08/23/09:

1st place: tysonduke23 ($117,009.38)*
2nd place: Faraday ($119,401.59)*
3rd place: shawry5 ($146,483.00)*
4th place: rmpvieira ($122,947.31)*
5th place: dmytro1 ($92,818.62)*
6th place: DDfromDS ($99,395.10)*
7th place: jornxx ($32,250.00)
8th place: Sheeeeep ($18,000.00)
9th place: Specialk66 ($11,625.00)

*numbers resulted from a six-way chip-chop agreement

For more information on ways to register and qualify for upcoming Sunday Million tournaments, visit the Sunday Million page.

While it is true that not everyone can afford the $200 + $15 buy-in, there are satellites - many of them - that run up until the Sunday start time, and for a fraction of the cost, players at all bankroll levels compete on an even playing field for hundreds of thousands of dollars. They also get to sit alongside PokerStars pros, players like Greg Raymer and Daniel Negreanu that most only see on television, and match their skills to theirs. A unique opportunity for all, indeed.

This week, there were 7,863 competitors who sat down with an equal amount of chips to begin their attempts to win, in most cases, life-changing money. That number created a prize pool of $1,572,600, which went beyond the guarantee and was split up to allow 1,170 players to cash in. Hours into the action, it was kir99 that took the position of bubble player and unfortunately busted in 1171st place, but UGA7211 was the first of many to cash, taking home $314.52 for the effort.

When the final table was finally in sight, it was ChasingDevil who went out in 11th place to send the action into hand-for-hand mode. After more than ten minutes of tense play, it was short-stacked sontilou who made the all-in push preflop with [Ah] [8d] but found opponent HectorPva with [Ad] [Qd] making the call. The hand played out here and left sontilou forced to accept $8,413.42 for the tenth place finish:

With Team PokerStars Pros Tom McEvoy and Andre Akkari standing by to cheer on the final tablists, they took their seats at the last table of the night/morning as follows:

Seat 1: Slims (11,568,134 in chips)
Seat 2: HectorPva (9,884,677 in chips)
Seat 3: KJB11 (7,581,872 in chips)
Seat 4: a2z1to3 (1,848,005 in chips)
Seat 5: ParisTilt0n (3,305,070 in chips)
Seat 6: umacorso (7,000,001 in chips)
Seat 7: PedrinhoxX (11,762,579 in chips)
Seat 8: chicagoali (13,358,324 in chips)
Seat 9: mertge (12,321,338 in chips)

With chicagoali in the chip lead, it only took a few hands to be chipped down a bit and see PedrinhoxX take over that lead. But then a monster hand developed that found those two battling with preflop raises that ended with chicagoali all-in with pocket aces against the [Ah] [Ks] of PedrinhoxX. The board brought a king on the river, but it wasn't good enough to keep chicagoali from doubling up and becoming the massive leader of the table.

A few hands later, the crippled PedrinhoxX took a shot with [Ac] [Qc] preflop, and ParisTilt0n was the caller from the big blind with pocket nines. The virtual dealer gave them a flop of [As] [2c] [5c], which was definitely good for the all-in player, as was the [8d] turn. But the [9d] came on the river to give ParisTilt0n the set and the win, eliminating PedrinhoxX in ninth place with $12,187.66 for the rough beat.

Another player losing a lot of ground since the start of the final table was umacorso, and when relegated to less than 4 million chips, umacorso pushed all-in preflop with [As] [Kd] after an initial raise by ParisTilt0n. But ParisTilt0n had no problem making the call with pocket jacks, and the race saw an interesting flop of [Ah] [Qs] [9s] hit umacorso. The [9h] turn changed nothing, but the [Js] gave the hand back to ParisTilt0n. Again, the river card did it and eliminated umacorso, this time awarding $18,084.91 for the eighth place finish.

Within moments, mertge decided to move as well, doing it with [Ad] [Qh]. But HectorPva reraised all-in to isolate, which worked, with [Ac] [Kc]. The board ran out [Ks] [Qs] [2d] [3d] [8c] and gave the pot to HectorPva, leaving mertge with $31,452.01 for the seventh place finish.

It was a2z1to3 who played the short stack from the start of the final table through several other eliminations, but as the threat of dropping below 1 million chips with blinds at 300,000/600,000 with a 60,000 ante, the time had come to risk it. When the small blind hit, he pushed with [4s] [2s], and chip leader chicagoali called with [Ah] [Th]. The board was an uneventful [9s] [3d] [Kh] [Js] [8c] to knock a2z1to3 out in sixth place with $47,178.01.

Play then sped up with two eliminations in fairly quick time. The first came when KJB11 moved preflop with [Ks] [Js], which dominated caller ParisTilt0n's [Tc] [9h]. But the board hit ParisTilt0n twice when it produced [2d] [Ts] [Qd] [Qh] [Th], and KJB11 was ousted in fifth place with $62,904.01.

Only a few hands later, the struggling Slims pushed with [Ah] [Qd] but found himself up against the pocket aces of HectorPva. The dealer quickly put out [6c] [Kh] [9s] [Jd] [6d] on the board to end Slims' tournament, giving him a fourth place finish and $79,259.05 to go with it.

The last three players standing decided to see the chip-chop numbers and consider a deal, and on the first try, they did all agree to the numbers. With $30,000 extra set aside for the ultimate winner, the three players chopped up the remaining prize money as follows:

Seat 2: HectorPva (26,384,599 in chips) = $165,924.51
Seat 5: ParisTilt0n (18,639,730 in chips) = $151,840.73
Seat 8: chicagoali (33,605,671 in chips) = $179,055.79

Though chicagoali lost some chips after the deal was made, the aggression soon came out in force, and ParisTilt0n was the one struggling to find the cards with which to take a stand against it. Finally, a hand developed that saw all three players take a look at the [3s] [6h] [4c] flop. Though ParisTilt0n initially checked, as did chicagoali, it was HectorPva who put out the first bet. ParisTilt0n came back with a raise all-in, and chicagoali called before HectorPva folded. ParisTilt0n flipped over pocket fives for the up-and-down straight draw, but chicagoali turned over [7d] [5d] for the flopped straight. Deuces came on the turn and river, and ParisTilt0n was eliminated in third place with the agreed-upon amount of $151,840.73.

Heads-up play commenced with the following counts:

Seat 2: HectorPva (15,955,711 in chips)
Seat 8: chicagoali (62,674,289 in chips)

Though chicagoali had the upper hand going in, HectorPva was not giving up easily. Mostly through a slow chip-up process, HectorPva began to cut into his opponent's lead. With aggressive all-in moves at times that chicagoali simply couldn't call, HectorPva took several key pots, including one for 16 million and another for 38 million. And then an opportunity that changed the entire makeup of the heads-up match:

That double-up for HectorPva was followed shortly thereafter by a double for chicagoali, then one for HectorPva, and another for chicagoali. The two players traded the chip lead like pro sports teams trade athletes, but the $30K on the line over and above their established payouts was worth fighting for.

Ultimately, with HectorPva holding a relatively slight lead over chicagoali, the former raised and the latter called to see a [Kd] [As] [3d] flop. HectorPva bet that flop, and chicagoali check-called, which took them to the [5h] turn. That prompted similar action and a [2d] river card. chicagoali pushed all-in with [8c] [3h] for the bottom pair, but HectorPva called with [Ad] [3c] and the two pair. That gave chicagoali a second place finish and the $179,055.79 that went with it.

HectorPva became the latest Sunday Million champion and was awarded $195,924.51 for the accomplishment. Congratulations to all of tonight's finishers!

Sunday Million Results for 08/16/09:

1st place: HectorPva ($195,924.51)*
2nd place: chicagoali ($179,055.79)*
3rd place: ParisTilt0n ($151,840.73)*
4th place: Slims ($79,259.05)
5th place: KJB11 ($62,904.01)
6th place: a2z1to3 ($47,178.01)
7th place: mertge ($31,452.01)
8th place: umacorso ($18,084.91)
9th place: PedrinhoxX ($12,187.66)

*results of a three-way chip-chop agreement

For more information on ways to register and qualify for upcoming Sunday Million tournaments, visit the Sunday Million page.

That's why it is always thrilling to see the registration number climb as the tournament begins. As the clock nears the end of the opportunity to jump in, that final number appears, and tonight it was 8,007. Any count of 8,000 players ensures the prize pool will surpass the $1.6 million mark, which is already $100,000 above the guarantee set by PokerStars. Every little contribution counts, and it all managed to set the total pool at $1,601,400, which would be shared by the final 1,170 players. Those are exciting numbers!

When it came down to the money bubble, money was the only thing on most players' minds. For their $200 + $15 buy-in, they were looking for a bit of a profit with a cash. Timo Magic wasn't able to get there, with a 1171st place finish on the bubble, but that exit made way for others like kvnok88 to make the minimum cash of $320.28, which is nothing to scoff at.

But speaking of cash, there was nearly $800,000 alone waiting for the final table nine, and there was certainly a mad scramble to get there. Play slowed quite a bit at the 18-player mark, and it did the same when the field thinned to only 12 players. Competitors were swapping chips, and the lead was alternating between several players. Ultimately, though, it came down to givi63 out in 12th and bl4cksky1 in 11th in quick succession, and soon after Doli pushed all-in with two overcards against the pocket pair of jacob126b38. The hand played out as follows:

That gave Doli a tenth place finish, and a prize of $8,567.50 was given for the final table bubble player. With that, the final table was set as follows:

Seat 1: D.K.5 (15,938,244 in chips)
Seat 2: danger0us (3,074,102 in chips)
Seat 3: th9nip (6,526,198 in chips)
Seat 4: kurvekat (7,168,267 in chips)
Seat 5: jacob126b38 (21,138,282 in chips)
Seat 6: fetchmeabeer (6,561,322 in chips)
Seat 7: lordhuttyx (3,901,360 in chips)
Seat 8: h2oace (5,271,144 in chips)
Seat 9: FOREVER_RU (10,491,081 in chips)

Team PokerStars Pro William Thorson was in the chat box with good wishes for all, and that took the players right into their first break.

Upon returning from break, it only took a few moments for one of the shorter stacks to push. It was lordhuttyx who made the all-in move preflop with [As] [Jc], but FOREVER_RU woke up with pocket queens in the big blind and called. The board ran out [9d] [6h] [6d] [Td] [4d], and lordhuttyx couldn't improve. That left him out in ninth place with $12,410.86 as consolation.

The very next hand saw h2oace make a double-up happen with A-Q versus the K-Q of chipleader jacob126b38. Most players at the table were clearly not afraid to move chips and take risks, but it took awhile for anything to happen to remove a player from the action. Meanwhile, kurvekat doubled through D.K.5, danger0us did it through h2oace, who then doubled back through danger0us, and the latter then stayed alive by doubling through FOREVER_RU. Difficult to keep up? Yes.

Finally, fetchmeabeer could hang on to a short stack no longer. Pushing all-in preflop, fetchmeabeer had two calls from kurvekat and danger0ous. They checked down the board of [6s] [Qd] [Th] [Kd] [2h], and when kurvekat shoed [6d] [3d], both other players mucked, which left fetchmeabeer out in eighth place with $18,416.11.

Then th9nip and D.K.5 tangled a few times, but it was the following hand that changed the course of the latter player and put the former into a solid position:

D.K.5 soon went all-in preflop for 5,692,298 chips with pocket tens, but FOREVER_RU called with pocket kings. No help came on the [6h] [5s] [8h] [7s] [Jc] board, and D.K.5 was ousted in seventh place with $32,028.01.

FOREVER_RU took on a bit of an aggressive image at the table, and a few hands later pushed all-in preflop for nearly 18 million chips. But danger0us took the bait and called all-in with [Jd] [8d], only to find himself up against the pocket aces of FOREVER_RU. The board came [5h] [Qh] [As] [2d] [7c], and the set eliminated danger0us from the tournament in sixth place, which was worth $48,042.01.

Into the wee hours of the morning in America, another player finally took a risk with a short stack. After a preflop raise from th9nip, kurvekat pushed all-in with [Ac] [Ts], and though th9nip folded, h2oace called with pocket nines. The race went to the board, which produced [Jd] [2h] [4c] [Js] [8s], and kurvekat was eliminated in fifth place with $64,056.01.

Though FOREVER_RU was the short stack of the group, it was th9nip who seemed extremely anxious to make moves. He got involved preflop with h2oace to see a flop of [2h] [7h] [3c], at which point th9nip pushed all-in for more than 17 million chips with [Kh] [Qh] and the flush draw, but h2oace called with [Kc] [7s] and top pair. The [3s] on the turn was no help, nor was the [Ad] on the river, and th9nip was gone in fourth place with $80,710.57.

FOREVER_RU did push soon after with [Ad] [5d], and he was ahead of the [Kc] [9s] of h2oace, who made the call. But the board immediately brought the card for h2oace on a board of [Kd] [5h] [Tc] [4c] [2c], and FOREVER_RU was eliminated in third place with $120,105.01.

Heads-up action then began with the following chip counts:

Seat 5: jacob126b38 (22,074,196 in chips)
Seat 8: h2oace (57,995,804 in chips)

The lead was with h2oace, and jacob126b38 seemed to struggle to find a hand with which to move. It only took 14 hands, though, before jacob126b38 found [Ac] [Qs] and pushed. h2oace called with [Ks] [5s], and the flop was safe for his opponent with [7d] [4h] [4c]. But the [Kc] came on the turn to change the dynamic of the hand, and the [9h] on the river ended the tournament. jacob126b38 was awarded $176,154.01 for the second place finish.

The August 9 Sunday Million victory was claimed by h2oace, who took down the substantial top prize of $240,210.01 and one of the most prestigious titles in poker - Sunday Million champion. Congrats!

Sunday Million Results for 08/09/09:

1st place: h2oace ($240,210.01)
2nd place: jacob126b38 ($176,154.01)
3rd place: FOREVER_RU ($120,105.01)
4th place: th9nip ($80,710.57)
5th place: kurvekat ($64,056.01)
6th place: danger0us ($48,042.01)
7th place: D.K.5 ($32,028.01)
8th place: fetchmeabeer ($18,416.11)
9th place: lordhuttyx ($12,410.86)

For more information on ways to register and qualify for upcoming Sunday Million tournaments, visit the Sunday Million page.

It began with 7,911 players, all of whom showed up for the $1.5 million guarantee and one of the most coveted titles in poker that comes with a Sunday Million victory. The number of players boosted the prize pool to $1,582,200, which was reserved for the last 1,170 players standing.

Play moved along rather quickly, as the final two tables were reached by just after 1:00am ET. With only three players above the million-chip mark - shack232, grebnrets86, and kenneeoin - there were several short stacks that took leave of the tables in a timely manner, though the last 11 players seemed to find themselves stuck, as numerous players doubled up or chopped pots to stay alive. Ultimately, 1montezuma left in 11th place, and hand-for-hand play began. After more than 10 minutes, it was LukeFromB13 who went up against BigRed0000 and lost the following hand to finish in tenth place, which was worth $8,464.78.

And the final table was set! With Sosnoviy holding down first place for Russia, the rest of the players started the last table's action with chip counts as follows:

Seat 1: almaty.kz (5,166,640 in chips)
Seat 2: Sosnoviy (19,240,360 in chips)
Seat 3: shack232 (11,815,085 in chips)
Seat 4: BigRed0000 (13,183,370 in chips)
Seat 5: Jakelamotta3 (4,230,595 in chips)
Seat 6: kenneeoin (9,795,296 in chips)
Seat 7: EAlriksson (4,751,982 in chips)
Seat 8: grebnrets86 (5,524,713 in chips)
Seat 9: getdaragzout (5,401,959 in chips)

Action began just a few hands in when grebnrets86 doubled through shack232 by cracking aces with eights, and grebnrets86 was just getting started, it seemed. Several minutes later, Jakelamotta3 decided to open with a preflop push for more than 5 million chips, and grebnrets86 decided to call from the small blind with [As] [Tc]. Jakelamotta3 called with [Ah] [8h] and was in some trouble. The board came down in favor of the larger stack with [2d] [Qd] [Ts] [5c] [6h], and Jakelamotta3 was knocked out in ninth place with $12,262.06.

Then one of the biggest hands of the tournament began to unfold. grebnrets86 was clearly in a gambling mood and made an initial raise, but Sosnoviy decided to reraise from the small blind. grebnrets86 was not having it, and he reraised all-in for more than 16 million chips with pocket eights. Little did he know that Sosnoviy would call so quickly, since he was holding pocket aces. The board gave them each a full house when it produced [Js] [Jh] [5s] [Kd] [Jc], but grebnrets86 had the worst of it and lost the 33 million-chip pot to finish in eighth place with $18,195.31.

Before most players could get their bearings, another hand developed when EAIriksson made his all-in move preflop with [Kh] [Jh]. That put almaty.kz to the test from the big blind with [Ah] [6h], and he finally made the call. The board hit [Ad] [7d] [7s] [Ks] [Qc], and EAIriksson left the tournament in seventh place with $31,644.01.

In another battle of the non-short stacks, BigRed0000 decided to make his move after Sosnoviy opened with a raise. Sosnoviy called with pocket sevens, and BigRed0000 was in on the race with [Qs] [Jd]. But the board blanked for the all-in with [3d] [6d] [Th] [6h] [2c], allowing Sosnoviy to take the 23.6 million-chip pot and eliminate BigRed0000 in sixth place, which was worth $47,466.01.

Sosnoviy took a massive chip lead over the pack at that point, as he neared 50 million chips and proceeded to bully the table with that stack.

Seat 1: almaty.kz (11,248,622 in chips)
Seat 2: Sosnoviy (47,828,751 in chips)
Seat 3: shack232 (5,915,372 in chips)
Seat 6: kenneeoin (8,875,296 in chips)
Seat 9: getdaragzout (5,241,959 in chips)

getdaragzout and shack232 were able to produce double-ups through the chip leader, though Sosnoviy didn't even dip below the 50M-mark and continued to dominate.

The next to attempt a double-up was kenneeoin, who found [Qc] [Tc] to be quite attractive preflop, but Sosnoviy was the caller with [Kh] [9h], and the two watched the board run out [3c] [Jc] [5h] [Ah] [Ad]. That put an end to kenneeoin's run in the tournament, and he finished in fifth place with $63,288.01.

Again, getdaragzout and shack232 doubled through the chip leader, but hardly a dent was made in Sosnoviy's stack. When shack232 did it again, it put him in second position on the leaderboard and went down like this:

The new short stack was getdaragzout, and it was time to make another move, this time with with [Js] [4s] from the small blind. But almaty.kz decided to call from the big blind with [Ah] [2h], and the board came in support of that with [3d] [9d] [Jd] [Qc] [Ad] to end getdaragzout's tournament in fourth place, for which the player received $79,742.89.

Sosnoviy had such a grasp on the majority of the chips during the final three action that both players doubling through still left the leader with more than 50 million. Even so, the almaty.kz and shack232 let him know that they were not going down without an aggressive fight. almaty.kz made a significant leap, though, when he doubled through the leader with pocket eights over A-Q and climbed to 27,445,832 chips.

Three-handed play lasted for quite awhile, with Team PokerStars Pro Tom McEvoy chimed in with some comments about shack232's "impressive" play and hosting duties. When shack232 pushed into a solid second place and Sosnoviy seemed to be losing momentum, the three players finally agreed to look at chip-chop numbers after about 30 minutes. McEvoy took the reigns, letting the players know the numbers and that $30,000 must be left over for the eventual winner. Sosnoviy took control of the talks, maneuvered into a bit more money, and the final amounts agreed upon were as follows:

Seat 1: almaty.kz (12,789,880 in chips) = $133,937.05
Seat 2: Sosnoviy (41,096,312 in chips) = $206,610.23
Seat 3: shack232 (25,223,808 in chips) = $159,489.76

Play continued for some time before Sosnoviy and shack232 got involved to see a [Kh] [Js] [7s] flop. A bet and a call led them to the [6s] on the turn, at which point Sosnoviy bet out again. shack232 raised all-in for his last 14 million and some change, and Sosnoviy called with [Jc] [7h] and the flopped two pair. shack232 showed [Kd] [5d] for top pair, and the [Ad] on the river sent shack232 out the door with $159,489.76 for the third place finish.

Heads-up play commenced with the following counts:

Seat 1: almaty.kz (17,109,880 in chips)
Seat 2: Sosnoviy (62,000,120 in chips)

There was a double-up to start things off, when the pocket sixes of almaty.kz turned into a set on the flop, though Sosnoviy still held a 2-to-1 chip lead over his opponent. But after the players took a short break, the two were quick to act upon their return. Sosnoviy was the one to move all-in after the initial raise by almaty.kz. The all-in call came from almaty.kz with [As] [4s], and Sosnoviy showed [Kd] [Jh]. The board ran out [Jc] [7s] [Jd] [Qs] [5d], and almaty.kz was forced to accept second place and the $133,937.05 from the previous deal.

Sosnoviy won the tournament for his hometown of Moscow, Russia, and won $236,610.23 for the feat. Congratulations!

Sunday Million Results for 08/02/09:

1st place: Sosnoviy ($236,610.23)*
2nd place: almaty.kz ($133,937.05)*
3rd place: shack232 ($159,489.76)*
4th place: getdaragzout ($79,742.89)
5th place: kenneeoin ($63,288.01)
6th place: BigRed0000 ($47,466.01)
7th place: EAIriksson ($31,644.01)
8th place: grebnrets86 ($18,195.31)
9th place: Jakelamotta3 ($12,262.06)

*results of a three-way agreement

For more information on ways to register and qualify for upcoming Sunday Million tournaments, visit the Sunday Million page.

There were 8,342 players in the last Sunday Million in July, and that catapulted the prize pool to a whopping $1,668,400. While only 1,260 players would receive any payout, those who made it to the final three would be eligible for six-figure payouts with the ultimate winner receiving $245,421.65. Is there anyone who wouldn't call that a successful Sunday?

Speaking of payouts, several hours into the tournament, it was ILimpSoWhat who was eliminated in 1261st place on the money bubble to give the remainder of the players the opportunity to cash out. CoachMarshal was the first to do so, taking home $300.31 for the 1260th place finish. The rest of the field then took their shots at the final table. At the point that there were ten players remaining late in Level 35, hand-for-hand play began and lasted for only several minutes, when Skammes took on Titan Tilts, the latter of whom was eliminated in tenth place ($8,842.53) on the following hand:

And then there were nine, along with Team PokerStars Pros Humberto Brenes and Steve Paul-Ambrose in the chat box to welcome the players. The final table of the PokerStars Sunday Million began as follows:

Seat 1: KingGorn (7,320,978 in chips)
Seat 2: BREAKURFACE (9,112,220 in chips)
Seat 3: FreeLancerZZ (6,546,888 in chips)
Seat 4: Skämmes (18,407,722 in chips)
Seat 5: asbo22 (13,017,771 in chips)
Seat 6: buttonsAAAA (4,997,590 in chips)
Seat 7: Danneville (12,275,378 in chips)
Seat 8: ThePokerBody (6,394,602 in chips)
Seat 9: domino16 (5,346,851 in chips)

Play started cautiously, as it sometimes does with such drastic differences in payouts at the final table. More than $230,000 separated a ninth place finish from a win, and none of the players were particularly desperate to move quickly. That was until ThePokerBody doubled through buttonsAAA, leaving the latter as the shortest stack of the group.

buttonsAAA came back to double through asbo22 but stayed in last place on the leaderboard, prompting another move. With [As] [Jc], buttonsAAA pushed all-in preflop for just under 4 million chips and was called by initial raiser KingGorn with pocket kings. The board came [9s] [6h] [3d] [4h] [8h], and the kings held up to send buttonsAAA out in ninth place with $12,930.11.

Action sped up noticeably, and FreeLancerZZ soon decided to get involved preflop, making the all-in move from the big blind with [Kd] [Jc]. But BREAKURFACE was there to call with [Ac] [Qs] and the lead in the hand. The virtual dealer gave them [2c] [2d] [9h] [Ad] [2h] on the board, and BREAKURFACE had no less than a full house. FreeLancerZZ was ousted in eighth place with a $18,352.41 consolation prize.

Within only a few hands, asbo22 decided to make his move from the small blind after a raise from Skammes, who had been dominating the tournament for level after level. asbo22 pushed all-in for more than 7.5 million with [Kh] [8s], but Skammes called with [Ah] [Jc] and the better hand. The board ran out [7c] [As] [Jh] [2d] [Qs], and asbo22 was gone in seventh place with $33,368.01 to soothe the pain.

After a bit of a lull in the action, Skammes was at it again. Already more than a 2-to-1 chip leader, he seemed unwilling to back down from any challenge. When BREAKURFACE raised preflop, Skammes came in with a reraise, which prompted an all-in move for a whopping 17.4 million chips with [As] [Kd]. Skammes called with pocket tens, and the board came [3c] [2s] [3d] [Qh] [6h]. BREAKURFACE was suddenly eliminated in sixth place with $50,052.01.

Play then sped up to an exciting pace. KingGorn moved all-in preflop from first position for his last 6.2 million chips with [Ah] [8c], and domino16 called from the big blind with pocket sixes. The board brought a clincher on the flop with [6d] [Qc] [8d], and it was followed by a [Kc] on the turn and [Ts] on the river to solidify the outcome. KingGorn was out of the tournament in fifth place, which was worth $66,736.01 in prize money.

Four players remained, and Danneville was quick to push all-in from the small blind for more than 15.5 million with [Qh] [Jh], which was a good-looking hand but didn't compare to the [Ac] [Kd] of ThePokerBody, who called all-in from the big blind. The rest of the cards came [Th] [Js] [7c] [Tc] [2d], giving Danneville the two pair, and that was all she wrote for ThePokerBody, who finished in fourth place with $83,420.01.

The final three wasted no time in pushing forward. It was domino16 who made the initial raise, and when Skammes reraised, domino16 pushed all-in for more than 17 million chips with [Ah] [Jd]. Skammes called with pocket nines, and they only improved to a full house on the [Kc] [Ts] [3h] [Ks] [Kd] board. That left domino16 with a third place finish and substantial payout of $125,130.01 for the effort.

Heads-up action promptly began with the following chip counts:

Seat 4: Skämmes (63,974,726 in chips)
Seat 7: Danneville (19,445,274 in chips)

After a number of hands and Danneville beginning to close the gap, the two agreed to look at chip-chop numbers and a potential deal. The players eventually agreed to the numbers given by the host, which were as follows with $30,000 left aside for the eventual winner:

Seat 4: Skämmes (53,005,837 in chips) = $202,271.36
Seat 7: Danneville (30,414,163 in chips) = $192,503.30

Play continued, and Danneville kept chipping away at Skammes and soon took over the lead with an all-in move that Skammes didn't feel able to call. The aggression by Danneville worked and pushed Skammes to move soon after he trailed in the chip counts, and the tournament came down to the following hand:

The pocket sixes of Skammes lost the race with Danneville's [As] [Qs] when the latter caught a flush on the river to end the tournament. Skammes took the agreed-upon amount of $202,271.36 for second place.

Congratulations to Danneville, who used patience and well-timed aggression to overcome the tournament's dominating chip leader in the last few rounds of the event. The victory was worth $222,503.30 for the win, along with the priceless title of Sunday Million champion.

Sunday Million Results for 07/26/09:

1st place: Danneville ($222,503.30)*
2nd place: Skammes ($202,271.36)*
3rd place: domino16 ($125,130.01)
4th place: ThePokerbody ($83,420.01)
5th place: KingGorn ($66,736.01)
6th place: BREAKURFACE ($50,052.01)
7th place: asbo22 ($33,368.01)
8th place: FreeLancerZZ ($18,352.41)
9th place: buttonsAAA ($12,930.11)

*results of a chip-chop agreement

For more information on ways to register and qualify for upcoming Sunday Million tournaments, visit the Sunday Million page.